


A Work of Art

by starspangledmeatball



Series: A Plethora of AU's [2]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, art school au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 09:23:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3805174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspangledmeatball/pseuds/starspangledmeatball
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Art School AU! Steggy. Steve is having the worst day of his life. Maybe a beautiful, firey, burnette can help him out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Work of Art

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been getting to write as much as I want to but you're in luck because it's 1am, storming, and I got inspiration!  
> Art School AU! Person A's sculpture blew up in the kiln and PErson B found them crying in the hallway.

Margaret Carter stiffly exited one of the studio rooms. She had just finished slaving to complete her project and her hands ached from slowly carving out every painstaking detail of her stamps. Her assignment was to recreate Propaganda posters of her choice. She had decided on World War II propaganda using a minimalist approach.

She was getting ready to leave the building when a loud sniffle alerted her. Turning around, she saw a small figure slumped down not 10 feet from where she was standing.

_Oh God that poor thing._ She thought. Smoothing down her skirt, she headed over to the crying boy hoping to help him in anyway she could.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" she asked, gently touching his bony shoulder.

He looked up startled to see a beautiful woman talking to him.

"I-I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't know anyone was down here."

"You didn't answer my question," she replied crisply. He sighed.

"I'm an absolute failure. I came here thinking I could hone in on my art skills and become someone important and worth noticing but all I've been doing is screwing up."

Peggy pursed her lips and sat down beside him. "Surely it's not that bad."

"Well it is... I've been sick too much, all my professors do is criticize my work, and today my clay sculpture exploded. Now... I'm thinking art school was a mistake."

"They can't be bad if you thought you could make a career of it," she soothed.

"Apparently they are," he sighed, staring at his hands.

That was it. "Stand up," Peggy ordered. "I'll make you some tea, bring that sketchpad of yours, I'll be the judge of your artistic talent."

Stunned, Steve stood up and followed her out. "You don't have to do that ma'am. I'm sure you have better things to do."

Her heart ached at that. Who hurt this sweet soul? "Can't think of anything better than helping out a fellow student in need of cheering up," she said. "Besides, I recently broke up with my girlfriend, Angie, so I could do with some company."

Steve smiled, feeling perked up already. "I think I've seen you around."

"I have modeled for a few of the art classes." That brought a blush to Steve's face. Now he knew why she looked so familiar. "Well... you are a beautiful dame- er girl- NO! Woman. Beautiful-"

"You don't talk to women much do you?"

"I'm not exactly beating them off with a stick," he chuckled, relieved she gave him an exit from his foot in the mouth.

They soon arrived to Peggy's apartment. It was a decent size with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a connected kitchen and living room. The furniture was plush and tasteful. Two art tables sat opposite each other in the room, one was laden with thumbnail sketches, carving tools and pencils filled cups, soft and hard linoleum stacked neatly, a work in progress sat in the center. The other art table lay bare except for a few photographs still hanging. One of which Peggy quickly tore down before Steve could see it. He'd seen her naked, but, the human anatomy for art is different than a photo of her in a skimpy outfit specially taken for her girlfriend.

"Make yourself at home," she said.

Steve awkwardly sat on the plush couch. Despite the horrible day he'd been having, he was ecstatic at the prospect of making a new friend. His best friend Bucky was away learning how to be a rocket scientist for NASA, so Steve had been all alone. It wasn't easy. It wasn't just the sculpture. Steve had already been upset because he got an eviction notice that night and was already distressed. He could barely afford his medication and trying to work at the school store on top of that didn't help. Not to mention, bullies didn't exactly care if someone had a lot of ailments if it meant they had someone to beat down.

He supposed his stubborness didn't help with that either.

As Peggy made the tea she studied the boy more properly. He was small, shorter than her by a couple inches. His dull, blond hair grew lank on his head, dark circles lay under his eyes. Asthmatic by the looks of them. He sat hunched over like his stomach hurt and constantly moved his feet like they felt the same. His clothes hung off him like a scarecrow and overall he just looked... malnourished. However, she couldn't deny the fact that he was quite handsome even with the telltale signs of illness lining his features.

"I never caught your name," he spoke up.

"Peggy," she replied. "Yours?"

"Steve."

_Steve_. It suited him. _You just broke up with Angie you twit! This is no time to be thinking about that!_ she chided herself. Especially since, last night, she had been crying her eyes out, eating ice cream, and watching Perks of Being a Wallflower.

After the tea was ready, Peggy joined Steve on the couch, and set the tea tray down. He picked up the cup and politely sipped. Even though he didn't care much for tea.

They sat in silence. Everything up until now had happened so fast neither of them actually had time to register what actually happened.

"Why don't you show me some of your drawings Steve?" Peggy suggested, breaking the silence.

He agreed and handed her the black book. She flipped through it and spread throughout the first few pages were character designs and a few comic strips that made her laugh, which in turn, made Steve blush and grin. As she went on she began to pinpoint the different units from the drawing class.

When she came upon the Drawing Live Figures section, it was her turn to blush. She had been one of the models for the unit but rather than just focus on her body, she noticed he zoomed in on her face and hands. She was touched by how much detail he put into these drawings but at the same time respected her by choosing to draw attention away from her assets. Though, she suspected he had been embarrassed drawing those areas.

"You're talented Steve." She said after a moment. "These drawings are brilliant."

"Keep going." Was all he said.

She did. The thicker pages held paint, oil pastels, and colored pencils. What baffled her was the bizarre color choices he had. "Um..." she wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"Probably should've mentioned I was colorblind," he deadpanned.

"A terrible tradgedy for an artist," she agreed. "Steve," she looked over at him.

"You truly are an amazing artist. If your professors can't see that and expect you to do well at everything then... well... fuck them."

Steve barked out laughter shocked of her cursing like that. "Thank you, Peggy."

They chatted for a while, growing more and more comfortable around one another.

"If you don't mind my asking, why did you and Angie break up?" Steve asked. He remembered her mentioning it before.

Peggy sighed. Her heart breaking, fresh tears threatened to spill. "She finally got her debut as Joanna in Sweeney Todd. She kept spending long nights away from home. We started fighting. They were silly fights over silly things but, we said terrible things to each other. We decided to end it and she moved out. So now it's just me." It had already been a week. The tears overflowed and Peggy felt foolish crying in front of Steve. Despite the fact he cried in front of her just hours earlier.

Startled, Steve jumped up and got a tissue box for her. "Would you like met to fill that extra space?"

She looked at him incredulously and he realized what he had said.

"I mean the spare room," he stammered. "I'm between apartments, and I know we just met but I like you. As a friend a I mean! I mean I wouldn't mind but I wouldn't push you plus I don't think I'm your type and-"

"Wait a minute what makes you think you're not my type?" she asked.

"You're beautiful and gorgeous and talented and I'm," he faltered. "A walking fishbone."

Peggy's heart hurt for him once more. "Well... since you so eloquently put it, I'd be happy to rent out my spare room to you. As for the date thing perhaps after I have a bit more time getting over Angie, we could try going on a date."

Steve's heart almost stopped. He knew how this felt because it happened once. He was in the hospital for days. His ma was worried sick. A woman like Peggy wanted to go out with him? And let him live with her!

Suddenly, Steve felt that this day probably wasn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if it feels a little rushed. It's late. I might go back and edit it. Or slow down future chapters now that I have the premise started. I used little Steve with every single one of his ailments. Peggy does not know about all of them yet so that will come as a shock. Anyway, hoped you liked it. Please review and check out my other story.


End file.
